We May Never See The Best?

LeBron James is one of the best players in the league today. The way he can carry a mediocre team to the finals or scoring 29 of his teams last 30 points (including the last 25), in a double OT victory. How just in the past post-season, the world saw LeBron work his heart out just to extend the Eastern Conference Finals to 6 games. Throughout the series, analysts wondered how much LeBron's body could take while doing that much. As long as LeBron avoids a serious injury, he will become a hall of famer.

Perhaps what makes LeBron so great, is that he's considered the best athlete in all of sports. He is no doubtedly the best athlete in the NBA. He stands at 6 foot 8 and 250 lb. Yet even at that stature, he is the best jumper in the NBA, and one of the fastest.

LeBron can pass better then your point guard. He can out-run your fastest player, out smart your smartest player, out-jump your high flyer and out-muscle your strongest player. The funny part is that everybody forgets LeBron is only 24. It's surprising because LeBron has been a driving force in the NBA for the past 6 years.

Now people have argued that if LeBron's basketball skills ever catch up to his intelligence and athleticism, he would be unstoppable. Over the past 2 years, his post moves and jump shot have improved. I've even heard some writers have said his dribbling can improve, but he gets to the rim and finishes better then anybody, so that's not a problem.

This is what bugs and scares some fans, what if he never improves those skills, or he improves those skills when his athleticism starts to decline.

Kobe's shot is unstoppable, but when people see those where amazing happen videos, they see him doing a crossover, losing the Blazer defender then throwing a pass to Shaq. Kobe no longer has that quickness, and he himself has admitted he is the shell of a jumper that he use to be. During his prime, he had both the shot and the athletic ability.

Now will LeBron, once he enters his "prime"? LeBron has been a starter ever since he entered the league. Not to mention LeBron has had to carry the entire load and the entire burden. He came straight out of high school, so expecting LeBron to be a supreme athlete in his 30s is ridicoulous. Even imagining LeBron being the same athlete at 28 or 29 is hard.

I love watching LeBron play, what he does is so entertaining, so inhuman, that fans want to see him become unstoppable. Most people have no doubt that he will find his stroke, and fix his footwork in the post. There is no doubt he will become a better free throw shooter.

The hope for me and fans all around the world is that he fixes his weaknesses, before he loses his strengths. Fans take advantage of the moments where Jordan hit a game-winner, Tiger made a winning putt, Ali delivering a knock-out, or Gretzky scoring a goal. With LeBron, there may be an alpha-athlete for our generation.

If not, we may never get to witness not only one of the most dominate players in the NBA, but in all of sports, and maybe even the most dominate athlete ever.